A Treatise on Choice…Continued.

I believe every word from my Father is truth. And His Spirit is inside me to make that truth a reality; to bring it to fruition in my life, as well as through me into the lives of others.

About three and a half years ago I was sitting in a dark room, thinking and talking to God. I don’t remember all that I prayed about that night, but I do remember the last thing I said. As I was on the floor, staring blankly up toward the ceiling, I said, “God, it doesn’t matter what I see or feel. It matters who You are and what Your word says…and I want to live from this place in everything.”

There was no applause from heaven, or emotion from within myself. It was not a life-changing experience. It was however, a life-defining moment…a simple, resolute choice to be undaunted in purpose–that purpose being my Father’s heart.

Here’s how I see it: Jesus said that the mouth reveals what the heart is full of (Matthew 12:34). And 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. Therefor, I choose to believe that every word from God  is a revelation of His love. To take it a step further, Jesus Christ is the full revelation of the Father. In everything He said and did, He revealed exactly who God is…He revealed the unfiltered love of our Father. And it is His identity that we have taken on as we have become united with Him–sons and daughters who receive and reveal the unfiltered love of our Father. Choosing to believe and act on this truth is the essence of faith that changes…

Changes what?

Everything.

Here’s the thing, God could split open the heavens and reveal His glory and splendor, and all mankind would be powerless to do anything but declare Him Lord. But He doesn’t do this. Instead, He chooses to reveal Himself through His people so that His Kingdom is not filled with subjects but children.

What we as His people need to understand is that we are not involuntary in this process. There is always–always–what God wants to do in us and through us. Faith and love are always in action, and they will always require intentional, active choice.

I said something to our students last night: The big moments in life don’t define us. They reveal what defines us. There is opportunity in every person, every situation that we encounter for the love of God to change everything. It doesn’t matter what we see or feel. It matters who He is and what His word says.

He is love…and I will choose to let that define me.

-JG-